A former provincial Environment Minister with a long history of environmental assessments in this province and elsewhere is weighing in on the waste-to-energy proposal for Lewisporte.
Synergy World Power is proposing to develop a facility that will convert plastic and biological waste into liquid fuel.
Two separate protests are planned this coming weekend against the proposal—one in Lewisporte and the other in St. John’s.
(Photo via Synergy World Power Website.)
Happy Valley-Goose Bay MHA Perry Trimper, who now sits independently in the House of Assembly, says if people are concerned about the project, they have to make a written submission to the department before the deadline.
He says just saying you’re opposed to it, won’t go very far. He’s encouraging people to make a written submission to the Environment Minister through the Environmental Assessment process.
Trimper says it appears as though a lot of work has been done by the proponent in their proposal, but a lot of questions have yet to be answered.
He says the minister has one of two decisions to make, the release the project from further environmental assessment, which Trimper doubts will happen, or to refer to further environmental assessment. “That does not mean that anyone has endorsed it,” says Trimper but means that the decision-makers will need more information to decide if it’s a good project or not.
The deadline for public comment is Wednesday, February 16.
